The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-12-13
MRS. CHATHAM.
A Husbands Promise and q Wife's
Distrust.

He was one of the cleverest fellows
In the world, and she was the prettiest
of women. Such at least was the YER
dict of the little watering place where
he first met her. She passed his hotel
every morning on her way to the
beach. and he thought her more charm
ing each day. And yet he resisted
temptation and did not seek an intro
duction for the simple reason that he
was not only clever but eccentric, and
decided in his eccentricities; and one
of his firmly-rooted prejudices was on
the subject of divorce. Hence his
aversion to @ closer contact with di-
vorcee, who had already attracted him
from a distance; for so Mabel Chatham
was generally called, though as mat
of fact she was not divorced, nor in the
immediate expectation of so being.
But the world of small, French water
ing place does not stop to make deli
cate distinctions. and as the "belle-
Americana" was living away from her
husband, it drew its own conclusions
accordingly. Many tried to explain it
but none succeeded, as no one had
succeeded on the other side of the
water, where Mrs. Chatham's affairs
had been an interesting but unfruitful
source of discussion.
Married very young to clever fell
how, her life had showed only sunshine
to all beholders, till Tom Chatham had
become involved in some business
troubles. owing, it was said, to rash
speculations. Then. almost before he
was safely extricated, came the strange
move on Mabels part Without any
talk, quietly and so suddenly that her
own family were COMPOUNDED, she left
America and had now been living for
about year i'm Europe.
And thus it was that she happened
TO be at these French bai,ss. and to pass
under Ronald Grey's window every
morning. He got to expecting her
after awhile, and to be disappointed
when it rained and there was no chance
of seeing the little. quick-moving
figure. with its wealth of golden hair
and the dark eyes that were strangely
quiet and unwavering. He found him
self weaving her into the story he had
sought this rather quiet place to finish;
only he never could quite catch the
charm of the living woman in his clev-
crest bits of description. She baffied
him. hence his wish to meet her. but
she attracted him, hence his long re-
sistance.
At last chance brought it about.
Walking on the beach one afternoon
he heard voices on the other side of a
point of rock, and rounding it, came in
sight of Mrs. Chatham presenting an
immovable front to an obstreperous
beggar. who promised shortly to be-
come more formidable. to Judge by the
way his eyes were fixed on the pocket
book in her hand.
Ronald Grey paused a moment to adj
mire the little figure, standing there
with the small head erect and a certain
decided look in the mouth that argued
i'll for the beggar. Then he went To
the rescue, routing the offender with
great slaughter. and earning for him
self-simply the right to lift his ha
and withdraw, noting with satisfaction
however, that Mrs. Chatham grew
neither hysterical nor effusively CRATE
full, either of which would have beer
foreign to her nature as he had drawn
her. And really it was some satisfac
ton to sketch pretty woman from tn
distance and find the attempt so truth
full.
So it might have ended had not SOM
mutual friends come along the beacl
at this moment, and seeing the state o
the case, made the two actors in tn